MKII St John’s Ambulance Brigade Helmet

[HetzersGonnaHetz]

Good evening folks,
I wanted to share this helmet with you and hoped to get your opinions on it if possible. I don’t know very much about British Second World War helmets however a quick search on here brought up another one similar to this but in black, which convinced me that these ‘personalised’ (if that’s the word) MkIIs existed and was worth looking a bit deeper, but after that I got stumped and I’ve now turned to the knowledgeable people here for help if that would be possible.

I’ve messaged the buyer to ask about any markings or dates on the helmet so I hope he gets back to me and I can post any other pictures on here with those details.

The particular wear around the badge seemed suspect to me, but this might be usual for helmets with badges on the front.
In the closeup photos, unlike the zoomed out one, the badge seems to have wear in line with the rest of the helmet, but when it comes to the inside eg liner and chinstrap I’m clueless.

If it all checks out I’m very tempted to buy it as it’s a neat little helmet and very interesting.
Many thanks and kindest regards,
Harvey

[HetzersGonnaHetz]

I've just heard back from the seller. He says that on the inside there are the letters HBH (quick search returned Harrison Brothers and Howson, Sheffield , who made these between 1938-40) as well as QJ11 (not sure about this one though). He says there was initially something painted on the helmet before the badge was added on as he can see the very bottom stalk of a letter.

Kindest Regards,
Harvey

[GermLeprechaun]

She's all good with quite the bit of information. I'd say go for it! Nice find!

[Tinhat]

There is a similar helmet posted here
St Johns Ambulance MKII Helmet

It looks good to me but you may want to confirm how the badge is fixed.

Steve

[HetzersGonnaHetz]

Hi Gents, it is sold now but it failed to reach its reserve I think so still could be buyable. It’s attached, according to the seller, with a weld. I’m not sure if that was common with badge-attached helmets however, as the fixing in the example linked by Tinhat is a pin system. The space around the badge looks well worn also. My optimist side of me makes me think that, as I have seen on some St John’s Ambulance helmets, that before there was a painted badge, the paint was removed, and the badge put in its place. However, this is just a guess.
Many thanks gents,
Harvey

[Tinhat]

Unlikely to be welded as the metals would differ. Soldered or brazed makes more sense and could explain the circle of paint loss or removal around the badge.

Steve.

[HetzersGonnaHetz]

Thank you for the info Steve. Got in contact with the seller and it turns out that it did sell for above it’s reserve in the end, I just wasn’t Johnny on the spot. Anyway, the pictures will hopefully be of some use to someone looking to buy a similar one in the future.
Many thanks for the help gents anyway,
Harvey

[Tinhat]

Better luck next time, one thing wit the Home Front helmets is that you never know what will come up tomorrow.
Steve